In John 10:11 the Lord Jesus says of Himself, “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. ” As the good Shepherd, Christ laid down His psuche life, His human life, for the sheep so that they may have the zoe life, the divine life, the eternal life. Now He shepherds us inwardly in the way of life, not in the way of outward activity. Inwardly we have Christ as our Shepherd, as a Shepherd of life and in life. Because Christ shepherds us by being life to us from within, the more we live by Him as our life, the more we enjoy His shepherding. On the one hand, Christ lives in us. On the other hand, we live in Him, by Him, with Him, and through Him. When we live in the Lord in this way, we are under His shepherding. As we are under Christ’s shepherding, there will be a life consciousness within us and also an instruction, a guidance, in life. The life within us, which is actually Christ Himself, will indicate that the Lord intends to lead us in a certain way. This life consciousness with its leading and instruction is an indication that we are under the Lord’s shepherding.
The real Shepherd is the living Christ. As our Shepherd, the Lord not only gives us life; He is life to us. The living of Christ within us is actually His living shepherding. Hence, the Lord Jesus shepherds us by being life to us and by living in us.
As the believers’ Shepherd, Christ forms them into one flock (John 10:16), the one universal church, the one Body of Christ, consisting of all the believers in Christ. The Lord supplies His sheep with Himself as life so that there may be one flock and one Shepherd, one Body and one Head. This one flock is very different in nature from a fold. A fold is a religious organization; the one flock is the church. As our Shepherd, Christ has brought us out of the fold into the flock, where we are in the pasture enjoying Him as our life and life supply.
The Conclusion of the
New Testament:
God, Christ, and the Spirit
Message 51 (LSM)
Jan192026
Jessica R Bussell
Aubrey, TX, United States
Thank You Lord Jesus for being our rest and enjoyment! Praise You forevermore!!!
Dez162025
Maria L
Fremont, California, United States
Lord Jesus, You are our Shepherd. We open to You. Thank You for coming to us where we are to shepherd us. You are the One who takes care of us in a tender and all-inclusive way. We ❤️ you Lord Jesus.
Sep72025
Alvin and Alador
Elk Grove And Redding, CA, United States
We are dwelling in oneness, feasting from such a rich store! Amen.
Jan112025
Alyssa Blanco
Round Rock
He is our rich enjoyment!
Here we have nothing to fear!
Dez142024
Carlos Macias
Huntington Beach, CA, United States
I love this hymn, thank You Lord Jesus for being our rest, food, and enjoyment!
Okt232024
Maria L
Fremont, California, United States
Lord Jesus, You are our Shepherd. We open to You. Thank You for coming to us where we are to shepherd us. You are the One who takes care of us in a tender and all-inclusive way. We ❤️ you Lord Jesus.
Numbers 23:21 says that God has not seen trouble in Israel. Here the word trouble means hard things, evil things that cause people to be troubled. This kind of trouble is even worse than iniquity. In the sight of God, there was neither iniquity nor trouble in His people Israel.
In the same principle, God does not see iniquity or trouble in the church life, because the church is in Christ. In Christ we have been chosen, redeemed, and saved from the bondage of the fall. Therefore, according to God's view, we have been brought out of the fall, out of condemnation, and out of ourselves. Therefore, we may say that in Christ the church life is glorious. The first line in the chorus of a hymn on the church (Hymns, #1221) speaks of the "glorious church life." Since the church life is glorious only in Christ, I suggest that we add the words "in Christ" at the end of this line and sing, "Glorious church life in Christ!" We may want to make a further adjustment and sing, "Glorious church life, in Christ but not in ourselves!" In ourselves the church life is not glorious, but in Christ the church life truly is glorious.
There is a hymn that speaks of the Lord Jesus as the One who brought us out of the fold and into Himself as the pasture:
...
The pasture is a place of tender grass; that is, a pasture is a place full of the supply of life. When sheep are in the pasture, they do not lack food. Today our pasture is the resurrected Christ as the life-giving Spirit. In our daily Christian life we should have the definite realization that we are in the pasture enjoying Christ as the rich supply of life.
There is a hymn which speaks of Jesus as the wonderful Shepherd who brought us out of the fold into the pasture that is so good to our spirit.
...
A flock is in the pasture during the daytime. In a similar way, if in our Christian experience we are in the pasture, we shall also be in the daylight. The brightest time for us is when we are in the spirit enjoying the pasture. But our darkest time is when we are in the flesh. When we are in the flesh, we are full of lust, self, and the old man. What darkness that is! Praise the Lord that when we are in the spirit we are full of light!
Jesus Christ the Lord is life to us. According to John 1:4, this life is the light of men. Therefore, when we have life, we have light. Moreover, when we have light, we are in the day. We thank the Lord that sovereignly He has brought us out of the folds into the pasture and out of night into day.
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16. Shepherd
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In John 10:11 the Lord Jesus says of Himself, “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. ” As the good Shepherd, Christ laid down His psuche life, His human life, for the sheep so that they may have the zoe life, the divine life, the eternal life. Now He shepherds us inwardly in the way of life, not in the way of outward activity. Inwardly we have Christ as our Shepherd, as a Shepherd of life and in life. Because Christ shepherds us by being life to us from within, the more we live by Him as our life, the more we enjoy His shepherding. On the one hand, Christ lives in us. On the other hand, we live in Him, by Him, with Him, and through Him. When we live in the Lord in this way, we are under His shepherding. As we are under Christ’s shepherding, there will be a life consciousness within us and also an instruction, a guidance, in life. The life within us, which is actually Christ Himself, will indicate that the Lord intends to lead us in a certain way. This life consciousness with its leading and instruction is an indication that we are under the Lord’s shepherding.
The real Shepherd is the living Christ. As our Shepherd, the Lord not only gives us life; He is life to us. The living of Christ within us is actually His living shepherding. Hence, the Lord Jesus shepherds us by being life to us and by living in us.
As the believers’ Shepherd, Christ forms them into one flock (John 10:16), the one universal church, the one Body of Christ, consisting of all the believers in Christ. The Lord supplies His sheep with Himself as life so that there may be one flock and one Shepherd, one Body and one Head. This one flock is very different in nature from a fold. A fold is a religious organization; the one flock is the church. As our Shepherd, Christ has brought us out of the fold into the flock, where we are in the pasture enjoying Him as our life and life supply.
The Conclusion of the
New Testament:
God, Christ, and the Spirit
Message 51 (LSM)
Aubrey, TX, United States
Thank You Lord Jesus for being our rest and enjoyment! Praise You forevermore!!!
Fremont, California, United States
Lord Jesus, You are our Shepherd. We open to You. Thank You for coming to us where we are to shepherd us. You are the One who takes care of us in a tender and all-inclusive way. We ❤️ you Lord Jesus.
Elk Grove And Redding, CA, United States
We are dwelling in oneness, feasting from such a rich store! Amen.
Round Rock
He is our rich enjoyment!
Here we have nothing to fear!
Huntington Beach, CA, United States
I love this hymn, thank You Lord Jesus for being our rest, food, and enjoyment!
Fremont, California, United States
Lord Jesus, You are our Shepherd. We open to You. Thank You for coming to us where we are to shepherd us. You are the One who takes care of us in a tender and all-inclusive way. We ❤️ you Lord Jesus.
Delhi, India
Glorious church life,
Feasting from such a rich store. Amen
Huntsville, TX, United States
Psalm 133
Forth Worth, Texas, United States
Glorious church life!